On nineteen different days this year, the air along the Wasatch Front has been bad enough to violate federal health standards. It's one of the worst summers for ozone in quite a while and it may force the state to take action. Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst has the story. John, why do we have to worry about ozone?

Well, you know if ozone is high up in the atmosphere, it protects us from the sun's rays. But if it's in the air we breathe, it's one of the most dangerous pollutants. It literally eats away at lung tissue. This week, state experts will present some ozone-control strategies to the Air Quality Board.

If you've noticed a kind of a crummy brown look to the air the last few weeks, you're not the only one.

((KASEY TUFTS/SALT LAKE CITY: "I THINK IT'S PRETTY NASTY. IT'S PRETTY BAD."))

The problem is ozone. More than allowed by new federal health standards.

((DAVID MCNEILL/UTAH. DIV. OF AIR QUALITY: "IN THE WASATCH FRONT, WE'VE HAD OVER 60 MONITORED EXCEEDENCES OF THE NEW STANDARD."))

For the last several years, we've had a bit of a summer vacation from the ozone problem. The last few summers have been too windy or rainy. This summer ozone came back. Big time.

((DAVID MCNEILL/UTAH. DIV. OF AIR QUALITY: "WE WENT BACK TO WHAT WE SEE AS ROUTINE, NORMAL, SUMMERTIME CONDITIONS." Q: "MEANING 'BAD'?" A: MEANING 'BAD'. MEANING THE CONDITIONS WERE IDEAL FOR THE FORMATION OF OZONE."))

The problem is us, of course. Although some ozone constituents are vapors released by industry and small business, it's mostly our cars that are the culprits. This year we've even even exceeded federal health standards on Saturdays and Sundays.

((DAVID MCNEILL/UTAH. DIV. OF AIR QUALITY: "FEWER PEOPLE ARE DRIVING, WHAT'S HAPPENING, THE LEFTOVERS FROM THE WEEK, THE RESIDUE HAS NOT DISSIPATED. WHILE THERE'S STIRRING IN THE BOWL, IT'S STILL THERE."))

State experts are brainstorming solutions. Employers may have to offer workers more commuting options like carpools and mass transit. More controls may be coming for businesses using vaporous solvents and degreasers. Refineries may change gasoline formulas to reduce vapors. And bulky vapor-recovery hoses may become standard at your filling station.

((CHAD HALL/STORE MANAGER: "WHEN WE GO DOWN TO CALIFORNIA ALL THE TIME WE USE THEM, BECAUSE ALL OVER CALIFORNIA THEY HAVE THEM. AND THEY DIDN'T REALLY ADD ANY PUMPING TIME. THEY DIDN'T BOTHER ME AT ALL."))

No final decisions have been made. It will be at least a month before the state's strategy becomes clear. But they definitely feel pressure to do something, because if the state doesn't adopt new regulations, the federal government will. And one state official told us, federal solutions are "always worse than what we come up with ourselves."